KINGSTON, R.I. – September 19, 2013 -- The first speaker in the University of Rhode Island’s 2013-14 Landscape Architecture Lecture Series, University of Massachusetts Professor Emeritus Nick Dines, will speak on the topic of “Landscape Architecture and the Design, Propagation and Ongoing Care of the Public Landscape: Public Gardens and Health Care Facilities.”

The presentation will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26 in Weaver Auditorium in the Coastal Institute building on URI’s Kingston campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Dines taught for 35 years in the UMass Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, where his interests were in promoting the public landscape and the design of environments conducive to human healing in hospital and institutional settings. His latest related project is the development of a garden and courtyard for the patients at the Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Mass.

Dines has won numerous awards for his designs and publications, including the 2013 Community Service Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. He also wrote several technical books on landscape design and construction technology. In his retirement, he has volunteered on a number of design projects, including the revitalization of the town center of Williamsburg, Mass., creation of the Mill River Greenway in Northampton, Mass., and the design of Meekins Park and Angel Park in Williamsburg.

All talks are free, open to the public and begin at 7 p.m. in Weaver Auditorium of the URI Coastal Institute in Kingston.

The URI Landscape Architecture series is co-sponsored by the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Planning Association, and the URI Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance.

For more information about the series, contact the URI Department of Landscape Architecture at 874-2983 or Professor Will Green at wagre@uri.edu.